Monday, August 1, 2011

Blizzard has dropped some ground breaking news on us regarding Diablo 3. Diablo 3 has been announced as having a new dual auction house system. Within the upcoming release version of Diablo 3, you will be able to make money with the game. Diablo 3 will be the first game released by Blizzard that will allow you to earn real life cash from playing one of Blizzard's games.

Blizzard has created the Diablo3 dual auction house system. Within Diablo 3, you will be able to access both an in game auction house and a Battlenet auction house. The Battlenet auction house will require real world cash as the currency. The in game auction house will require Diablo 3 in game currency (gold). You choose which auction house you would like to post your item to. So you can choose to post your items to the real world auction house through Battle.net and you will earn real world money. Blizzard takes a cut of each auction house sale and the Blizzard tax amount is currently unknown as of this release.

I've Done This Previously in Diablo II

In my earlier gaming days, I have some experience with farming Diablo items to sell on eBay. Back when eBay allowed you to post virtual goods for sale, I would make some sales on high demand items and runes. I made an Amazon Archer that was geared out in nothing but magic find gear. The magic find gear in Diablo helps to increase your chances of finding magic items and increases the quality of what magic items you find. She would enter the secret cow level and clear the entire place out over and over with Multi-Shots everywhere. I would collect my gear, sell the junk, and list the uber-gear on eBay.

It was fun and a cool thing to do at the time, but it in no way would have paid the bills as an adult. And it was sort of a black market exchange of goods as it was frowned upon by Blizzard. The release of the dual auction house system is a great idea and I am anxious to see how it all works out. Now with the legal selling of gold, weapons, and Diablo 3 gear being sold on the real world auction house for cash, the brain starts to wonder.

Gold is Sellable...

Could a WoW goblin take over a Diablo 3 auction house with real dollars as currency?

Is there any potential in farming Diablo 3 gear to sell on their legitimate white market dual auction house system?

How much could be earned? Are the Botters Salivating? Gold Farmers? Goblins in The Real World?

This such a bizarre idea. A digital marketplace where RNG items are sold for disposable income. It's like bread spontaneously appearing in a market. If the AH thrives, the AH cut becomes Blizz's own steady stream of low upkeep income. The ability to sell gold should keep in game currency at ratio to actual money such that the base line price of any object revolves around the ubiquity of gold.

I'm very excited about this if only as a grand experiment in economics.